July 27, 1883.] 



KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



61 



and a friend who were present also saw them. Time was about 

 9 p.m., and the atmosphere clear. There were other geraniums of 

 a different colour on the same bed, but there was no effect on them. 

 The particular geranium was a Tom Thumb. 



Is this at all common f I have never seen or read of it before. 



S. Ingham. 



SKYERS. 



[883] — With reference to your note upon the absurd statement of 

 the " Siiectator " that a " skyer " can only result from a drive, will 

 you allow me to point out that nothing is more common than for a 

 batsman to hit binder the ball in hitting to leg, with the almost 

 invariable result of sending it spinning over his shoulder towards 

 " long slip," or, perhaps, " third man ; " and such a hit is a verit- 

 able " skyer," both in a literal and what one may call a technical 

 sense. 



A " skyer " from a laie hit to leg would be indeed a curiosity. I 

 should be sorry to be keeping wicket when it happened. 



F. M. D. Uplock. 



[Yes ; I knew a bowler who had a favourite dodge based on the 

 fact mentioned by Mr. Uplock. When bowling to a batsman who 

 favoured leg-hitting, he would send an occasional leg-ball with a 

 break from the off-side, or au-ay from the wicket. Such a ball, 

 pitched rather forward, is very apt to be hit under, with the result 

 of sending a " skyer " to long slip. Especially is this the case if it 

 comes after several leg-balls sent down with the right sort of break 

 for taking the wicket — that is, a break from leg. — R. P.] 



DRESS REFORM— MEN. 



[884] — I am in my "forties," and since myyouthhave discarded 

 braces, belt, or buckle. I merely have my trousers made to a 

 " nicety," to fit just over the hip. Anything more comfortable is 

 beyond my imagination. I think my tailor has not taken my 

 measure more than two or three times during my "career," so that 

 this ordeal has been avoided. A. G. 



[Unfortunately some men, oppressed with over-much adipose 

 tissue, have no hips worth mentioning. — R. P.] 



RATIONAL DRESS : THE KILT. 

 [885] — In all the letters and papers which appeared in Knowledge 

 on dress, I am surprised that our national dress, the hilt, has not 

 been referred to. Those of us who are in the habit of, at times, 

 wearing it, and at other times trousers, know how much more com- 

 fortable and pleasant it is than the latter. Two things, however, 

 arc indispensable to this comfortableness and pleasantness. (1) 

 That it be made so <ts to balance perfectly and hang all round with 

 an equal weight, and (2) that it be fixed with large pins, and with 

 no such things as straps and buckles attached to it. The difficulty 

 is to find a tailor who knows how to make a kilt which will balance. 

 For ten years of my life, having worn nothing else, I can speak mth 

 full knowledge. Perhaps my friend Dr. Gillins, who has been 

 associated with mo in other Celtic matters, can throw some light on 

 its healthfulness. Charles Stewart. 



EARTH-SHINE. 

 [886] — While looking at the moon recently willi a 35 equa- 

 torial, the " Earth-shine " was most distinctly visible. A friend, 

 to whom I pointed it out, saw it also most plainly. 1 was not aware 

 before that this was visible when the moon is eight days old. 



W. H. k. SOAMES. 



[It is very seldom so seen in England. In America and Australasia 

 I have seen it — oven later.] 



FIGURE-CONJURING. 

 [887]— It may surprise " G. M." to know that the figure-con- 

 juring he read of in a French book was practised upon verdant 

 students of mental arithmetic in my early days at an ordinary 

 English elementary school, only the ending was vai'ied. Instead of 

 asking tbo youthful arithmetician to hand him a slip of paper 

 showing the final pi'oduct, the "conjuror" would say: "Now, 

 deduct the number you first thought of," and afterwards proclaim 

 the I'esult, without seeimj any poper, or hving told onything. 

 Between boys who were in tho secret the whole method was 

 worked mentally, by way of exercise, but four figures were " one 

 too many" for us. A. 13. C. 



A VERY COMPLETE MAtJIC SQUARE. 



[888] — In looking over the early numbers of Knowledge, my 



attention was drawn to an arranged square of nine, on i)ago 273, 



Vol. ]., copied from a tablet inserted in the wall of a villa near 



Rome, wlien it struck nu^ that I could improve upon that arrange. 



ment, and accordingly I have succeeded in constructing a square of 

 nine, beyond which I think it would be diflficult to go. In the 

 accompanying figure the number 369 is produced by each vertical, 

 horizontal, and diagonal row of cells ; by the angles, whether right, 

 acute, or obtuse ; from the comers, or the middle from the centre, 

 which will still hold true should both side rows, or top and bottom 

 rows, or all four bo taken away. The nest rows, in a similar 

 manner, may be removed with like results. The figure is divided 

 into nine smaller squares, each of which contains the number 369. 

 Should we take the diagonals of any three of the smaller squares 

 lying in a line of which the central square is one, the same number 

 is obtained. In fact, any three cells with their corresponding 

 opposites with any three of the central squares which form a line 

 passing through cell 41, or any four taken in a like manner along 

 with that cell alone, will produce the same result, nine cells 

 always being necessary for the purpose, of which the central must 

 in most cases be one. A very little investigation will show the 

 principle upon which the figures has been constructed. In how 

 many ways can the number 369 be produced ? G. S. 



MECHANICAL PUZZLE. 



[889] — Here is a mechanical question which puzzles, and which 

 I should like inserted in Knowledge, with a view to its solution : — 

 If a body moves with a certain velocity, it has a certain amount of 

 kinetic energy ; if at twice that velocity, its energy is four times 

 the first amount, for the energy in a moving body is as the square 

 of its velocity. Now, when a person moves a body (say throws a 

 stone) the work he does or energy he expends is in proportion to the 

 V^ of the body moved (assuming the mass to be constant). Suppose 

 A to throw a body with a velocity V, and suppose B to be riding 

 alongside of that body and at the same rate (V) to B, the body will 

 be relatively at rest. Let B now lay hold of the body and give it a 

 new velocity V, the body will now move with a velocity 2 V, and 

 have, therefore, four times the energy that it had at first ; but 

 A and B have done equal work on the stone, each imparting a 

 velocity V, and therefore an energy equal to one-fourth of what the 

 stone now has — together equal to one-half ? Where does the other 

 half of tho energy come from ? Force. 



[From the horse, or other animal on which our friend B may 

 be riding.- B. P.] 



PROBLEM IN PROBABILITIES. 



[890] — I send you a question in probabilities which appears to 

 me to bo rather peculiar, and shall be glad of your opinion on it, 

 or that of your correspondents. 



Required the separate chances (1) of dividing ; (2) of taking 

 the whole of a six pool. N.B. — Players of equal skill. 



Since one out of tho six players must either take the whole or 

 di^de, and each has tho same chance of doing so, — 



chance of either dividing or taking the whole for each player = - 



Again, each player may divide in five ways, but can only take 

 the whole pool in one way. [But are tho six chances here con- 

 sidered equal ? — 1'.. P.] 



Assuming, therefore, that the chance of dividing : the chance 

 of taking tho whole : : 5 : 1 we get — ■ 



5 



Chance of dividing = — 



36 



,, ,, taking the whole = — 

 36 

 But is this reasoning correct ? Hazard. 



